Business notes!

Here's the latest, in a short, less emotional format!

• Surgery set for March 18th, at Beaumont. I'm happy with my decision, even more so since I emailed my Beaumont breast surgeon and she immediately squeezed me into her schedule so that I could meet with her yesterday and discuss my concerns.
• We're going to the Great Wolf Lodge this weekend, for more weekend fun, pre-surgery. Emma actually asked me "Why do we have to keep going places and having fun? Why does Dad want to spend all of this money?" (We have traditionally been very big on telling the kids about how everything costs money and how it is very important to save instead of to be doing fun things that cost money all the time...I'm glad it sunk in a bit, but it was still funny to hear her ask that.) We go Friday evening - Sunday morning.
• I planned Katie's birthday party! It is on March 16th, at Creative Arts Studio in Royal Oak (got the idea from Emma's friend Evelyn and her great party), and we are inviting all of the girls in her class...I hope some of them will be able to come. It ends up only being 2 weeks before her actual birthday, which is a nice time anyway.
• The trim in the girls' rooms is being painted as I write this...Bill (co-owner of Anna K Studio...his wife is Anna K) could be one of the most wonderful people in the world. He took a break from another job for this week so that he could fit me in. As you can see if you click on the link, they do much more fancy work than painting horribly annoying trim...so it was even more special that he took on our horrific job. I do feel sorry that he is having such a hard time with it, but it also sort of makes me feel justified in all the many, many, many fits I had when I was painting trim throughout the other parts of the house!
• I've been spending this week organizing, getting ready to be out of commission, and sadly, today, shoveling my annoying driveway and making my kids miserable while I did it! I told them that they had to stay outside the whole time I shoveled, so they could either help shovel and go in earlier, or have a good time outside (it's not cold, just tons of snow fell last night). Katie spent her time between shoveling and having a good time, and Emma spent her time either not shoveling or not having a good time! It was devilishly fun to be telling her that crying wouldn't help her get the job done faster (reminded me again of the rowing days). Nathan was a pretty good sport, he only fell and got cold hands a few times.
• I haven't really started fundraising for the 3-day walk, yet, but I got some wonderful donations already! Thank you to Sybil, Grant, Kathy Cardellio, Laura Olds (a wonderful woman from a book club I am supposed to be attending...I bet NOW with my more sedentary year I'll get the books read!) and my husband. BUT, listen to this...while watching a video at UM about chemo, one woman said this: "I would go to the gym before chemo, go to chemo, and then go running!". That sounds like more than I might ever do, but still, it gives one hope. It also reminds me of how my friend Vita might go through chemo. I've never been as tough as Vita is, but I think I might just try during chemo.

That's it for now! Time to do something more fun with these kids on this snow day...